The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Thuja occidentalis, hereinafter referred to as ‘RutThu#1’.
Pedigree and history. Seed of Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’ (unpatented) was received in 2003, cold stratified and sown. This seed was germinated at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus before being transferred in 2004 to the Center for Applied Nursery Research (CANR) in Dearing, Ga. There were thirty-five seedlings grown from this seed that were transferred to the CANR in Dearing, Ga. Five of these thirty-five plants were selected in 2005 for further evaluation. These five selected plants were planted in a field trial area in Dearing, Ga. on Feb. 27, 2006. The height and width of ‘RutThu#1’ at planting was 13″×12″. After seven years, ‘RutThu#1’ was the darkest green and most compact of these five plants. Height and width measurements of ‘RutThu#1’ on Sep. 28, 2010 were 26″×21″ and on Nov. 20, 2013 were 31″×24″. In contrast, the final height and width of ‘Holmstrup’ variety plants of the same age growing under comparable growing conditions was 57″×48″. My new plant has been asexually propagated at Dearing, Ga. by hardwood cuttings. The resulting progeny have been observed and these observations have confirmed that the distinguishing characteristics of ‘RutThu#1’ set forth herein are fixed in succeeding generations.